Clean, Purge, Give

Well, I did it. I went through my gown closet. Everything is in plastic and organized by color. Not so long ago I was living a dream. Singing 6 nights a week in 5 star hotels with an excuse to wear a gown every night. Sometimes I think I liked the dressing up part more than the gig! (Okay, and the nice hotels, too!) I'm a sucker for glam and LOVE any excuse to get dressed up! Well, anyway, Momma is about to live a new dream and although MORE exciting than the last, it's a job requiring only jeans and a tee shirt. Time to purge!

So what to do with all those gowns? I went through and shamefully I must admit there are like 50 of them in there. Some I hope to wear again. Some I just can't part with yet for sentimental reasons. My first big show in Atlantic City. My first gig in Thailand. Several I designed and had made in Thailand. (Pic of them below). One of them made of the Thai silk given to me as a New Year's present from the girls that worked at the bar where I sang. They all got together and presented it to me and were so excited when I walked in one night in a dress made from their gift! Decided to part with 20 of them, but really had hoped to give them to someone who will appreciate and get wear out of them. I went online to search for possible charities and found one not far from home called Cinderella Project of PA. Very cool charity and a nice lady that runs it. They loan out gowns and dresses for free to girls who can't afford a dress for prom or those who just need a dress for a special occasion. I love this idea and makes me feel better about letting go of those coveted gowns. Every girl deserves to feel like a princess for a day and go to prom! So happy I can contribute. In fact, I'm so happy about it that I'm going back through the closet today to see if I can't find a few more...

These are the ones I can't part with. The reddish pink one on the right was the one made from my gifted Thai silk. All 3 are silk and were custom made (very inexpensively!) in Thailand.

Jeff gets home today and I have a full agenda. He's been working so hard so I want to make sure he hasn't a thing to do or a care in the world this weekend. So I stocked the fridge, dropped the animals at the groomer for a good bath and hair cut and did all the errands. Even taking down all the trash - a job I usually wait for him to do. Last night I cleaned out and re-lined the pantry. Still need to mop the floors and clean out the fridge and lazy susan. It's been a 3 week process of cleaning and purging and boy, does it feel good! Donated some shoes and clothes to a local charity this week, too, so I am not the only one benefiting from all this purging. Good feeling and now all I have to do is organize my office and I am DONE. Then I just kick back and enjoy summer till we go to Thailand. Woo-hoo!